


The Manchurian Candidate

by NYWCgirl



Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hypnotism, Mind Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 06:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5038195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mozzie knows something is not right with Neal and tries to find out the truth, but who can he trust and will he be in time before Neal self destructs?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. End of Level 3

**Author's Note:**

> This story fills the ´Telepathic trauma´ on my h/c bingo card

“I tell you Frank, he is not ready.” Peter got up from his chair and started pacing the room.

He had been called in by his superior at the agency, Frank Devlin. Sometimes he doubted his work, but the higher ups were always able to convince him that he was doing the right thing for the greater good. He was one of the best handlers they had and he had led at least 4 successful charges to their mission, which was impressive, even Peter had to admit that.

“He is Peter and you know it. I received reports from Elizabeth and June and they tested him. He performed all the tasks they asked him to. He didn´t hesitate, he just carried them out when he was asked. All progress reports indicate he is ready for the next level. We monitored him long enough; it´s time to recall him for further programming.”

Peter sighed, there was nothing he could do, he was convinced the subject needed more time to establish himself, but the agency wanted to push his programming. His IQ was definitely high enough, so that wouldn´t pose any problem. He was by all means the perfect candidate, intelligent, good looking, in excellent condition.

“Just tell me where and when.”

“You will receive instruction when you leave.”

 

* * *

 

Peter had told Neal they had been asked to consult on a case in Dallas. A painting was stolen from the DMA and they would assist the Dallas Art Crime team. Neal had been excited to leave his two miles radius. It had been a while, so he resembled a kid in a candy store.

Peter had dropped him off at June´s, with the instruction to be ready the next morning at six in the morning.

When Neal entered the house, he called out to June that he was home and climbed the stairs to his apartment. June called back that she had saved dinner for him.

“I will freshen up and come back downstairs.”

He took a quick shower, dressed casual and descended the stairs. Dinner was already on the table. Neal walked up to June and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, before sitting down.

“What´s for dinner?” he smiled at June, while lifting the lid of the pot.

“Your favorite… Blood sausage with apple sauce.”

June studied Neal´s expression, but it didn´t show anything but joy.

“Great, I really love it.”

“I know you do, sweetheart, where did you learn to eat it? It is not something common, I had to ask François from BXL Zoute to make it for you.”

“Thanks June, I learned to eat it when I, allegedly, spent some time looking for a Rubens.”

June smiled.

She placed some of the sausage on Neal´s plate and scooped up some apple sauce and handed him the freshly baked bread. Neal ate with gusto.

When they were finished, Maria brought some fresh coffee and some red velvet brownies, again Neal´s favorite.

“You spoil me, June. Where would I have been, if I hadn´t met you in that thrift store?”

June gave him a small smile. _Probably living an ordinary life_ , she thought.

 

* * *

 

**_October 2009_ **

June had been given instructions to pick up her new charge. His handler had made sure he was in the thrift store. When she entered, she saw him going through some clothing rack.

“I've come to donate these.”

“Hmm... Men's suits.” The store clerk stated dryly.

June could see him slowly making his way up to her.

“Those are fantastic.” He spoke up.

“They belonged to my late husband” She lied easily.

“Oh!”

She needed to save this, she didn´t want the boy to feel pity for her.

“....Byron. He really did have great taste in clothes.”

“Oh!... May I?”

He accepted the handed jacket.

**“** Thank you.” He studied the label. “This is a Devore.”

Lord, what did these people at the facility come up with? What young man would know these things without being gay? She really needed to talk to the programmers.

**“** Yes. He won it from Sy himself.”

“Won it?”

**“** He beat him at a backdoor draw.”

**“** Your husband played poker with Sy Devore?”

**“** He certainly did. And so did I.”

**“** No?”

OK, time to close this deal. June thought. Let´s see if I can lure him with me.

“Yes. The guys would even let me sit in once in a while on a hand. And I was good. I' m glad to see you appreciate these. I was hoping someone would. I've got a whole closet full of them.”

**“** A whole closet?”

**“** Well, actually, it's a guest room, but, uh, but I haven't used it for anything except storage for years. Byron used to wear that one whenever we went dancing. The neighborhood was... let's say it was much nicer then.”

“You live nearby?”

Hook, line and sinker. He bought her story, or better, the instructions written in his personality did work. This candidate was special and the agency wanted to keep him close, without keeping him at the Facility. His handler agent Peter Burke had picked him up from jail, or so was their charge made to believe. The programmers had made up a story where he had a history with his handler and he had spent the last four years in jail, little did he know that he had only spent the last couple of hours there, long enough to be picked up by Peter Burke. And here he was in all his glory.

“Not far.” She answered.

Neal just smiled. And so did June. The first step in level three had been completed.

 

* * *

**_The present_ **

 

The next morning, Neal was up and having breakfast when Peter came in fifteen minutes early.

“Want some breakfast?” June asked. “There is more than enough.”

“That would be lovely, June, thanks.”

Peter sat down with Neal and poured himself some coffee.

“What was stolen?” Neal asked.

“Venus and two cupids, by Jan van Scorel.”

“Never heard of it, and why did they need our expertise?”

“I thought you would be thrilled to leave New York.” Peter looked a bit taken aback.

“I am, I am.” Neal assured.

“Ok, finish up, so we catch our flight in time.”

 

* * *

 

When they arrived in Dallas, it was eleven in the morning, so Peter suggested they have lunch before they would go to the office. They picked up the rental car and drove off in search for a restaurant Neal would approve of. They finally settled for a nice looking Italian family restaurant and had lunch.

When they got back in the car, Peter said the trigger and Neal just stared blankly ahead. The trigger Peter had mentioned made sure Neal was relaxed and conscious, but not aware. Peter started the car and drove to Doctors Hospital. He told Neal that they had an appointment with the sleep center, and Neal exited the car without further comments or questions.

“Good afternoon agent Burke, so this is our new charge?”

“Yes, Neal Caffrey, I guess you have everything you need in his Call file?”

“Yes, we are good to go. Mister Caffrey, follow me, please.”

Neal followed the doctor into one of the examination rooms.

Peter knew this would take a couple of hours and they would call him to pick up Neal, so he left the hospital and checked in the hotel the agency had booked for him. He freshened up, got in some casual clothing and decided to go have a beer.

Peter remembered the first time he met his new charge.

 

**_September 2009_ **

****

_He had handled other subjects to successful missions and this candidate was promising, so they assigned Neal Caffrey to Peter. Of course, his name was not Neal Caffrey, it was the personality they had written for him. The candidate had undergone a successful level 2 programming and it was now up to Peter to guide their charge, until they needed him. To Neal it would seem that they had known each other for years._

_Peter psyched himself up and walked into the apartment building._

_“I see Kate moved out.”_  
  


_“She leave you a message in that?”_

_“The bottle is the message.”_

_“It's been a while.”_  
  


_“Yeah.”_  
  


_“A few years, give or take.”_  
  


_“You carrying?”_

_Peter was informed that they had written an non violent personality in the level 2, but peter just wanted to make sure and it was sort of protocol to ask._

_“You know I don't like guns.”_  
  


_“They ask me, what makes a guy like you pull a boneheaded escape with four months to go?”_

_“I guess you figured it out”._  
  


_“Kate says "adios" to you at prison, then gets busy with her disappearing act. Her trail ends here.But you already know that.”_  
  


_“I missed her by two days.”_

_If she had existed, Peter thought._  
  


_“Still it only took you a month and a half to escape a supermax. Damn impressive.”_  
  


_Peter took out his radio and signaled “All clear. Subject identified and unarmed.” “Are we surrounded? How many?”_

_Peter kept Neal talking. He was impressed by the younger man. He now understood why they valued this candidate. He was bright, he could do great things in the right hands._

 

****

****

**_Present_ **

****

Peter was shaken from his day dreaming when his telephone rang.

“Burke.”

“We are done for today, will you pick him up or do we keep him here?”

“I´ll pick him up. Be there in thirty minutes.”

 

* * *

 

When they arrived back at the hotel, Neal was exhausted.

“Are you OK?” Peter asked, his voice laced with concern.

“I´m fine, just a headache.”

“Why don´t you lay down and I will wake you when it is time for dinner.”

“I guess I will take a shower and then lay down.” Neal walked to the bathroom and undressed. When he looked in the mirror, he pulled the band aid on his side off. Underneath was a small wound. He had fallen and hit a chair. The doctor had just glued it shut and it was healing well. He couldn´t exactly remember the fall, but he remembered being in the ER, the nurse taking care of it. The wound itself was small but needed cleaning, so Peter had brought him to the ER.

Neal took a quick shower, dried himself off, pulled on some boxers and took an Advil. He then crawled under the covers. Peter had left the room, probably to get a drink in the bar. That was OK, his head felt like it was about to explode, as if it was filled up to capacity. He just needed to rest a bit, and he would feel better.

 

_“Hi Neal, how are you doing?”_

_“Very well doctor Green. Thank you.”_

_“We would like to continue where we left off.”_

_“OK?”_

_Neal looked a bit unsure. He trusted the doctor, but he couldn´t remember where they left off._

_“Relax Neal… 845alpha6455sigma053.”_

_Neal relaxed completely._

_“Neal, I want you to pay attention to my voice, OK? Listen to my voice and relax.”_

Neal woke with a start. He was breathing heavily and looked around frantically. He scanned the room until his eyes fell on Peter. He just came in from the bathroom.

“Are you OK?” Peter asked concerned.

“Yes, just a bad dream.”

“Care to tell?”

“No, come to think of it, I can´t even remember.”

“Happens to me all the time.” Peter smiled. “I have the greatest dream and when I wake up, I can only remember that the dream was great but I don´t remember any details. How is your head?”

“Better. Let me just put on some clothes. I´m famished.”

“Great, let´s go.”

Neal walked into the bathroom and he didn´t see the strange questionable look Peter gave him.


	2. Triggers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, just a short chapter, but I promise to update soon.

Once they had dinner, Peter and Neal walked back to the hotel. They discussed the case of the stolen Madonna and Neal gave Peter some insider tips on how the thieves probably entered the DMA.

They passed a bar and Peter suggested they have a beer before turning in for the night. Peter hinted Neal to take a beer as well as the bar didn´t look like it was a real classy joint.

Neal said he would order and walked up to the bar. The bar tender asked what Neal wanted and Neal answered that he wanted two local beers. But he stopped talking as soon as he heard the Texan drawl in his own voice. That was a strange slip. He knew that he had impersonated the son of a Texan oil magnate, but to have it come back without Neal being conscious of it, that was strange.

The beers arrived and he walked back to their table.

“You look a bit spooked. What happened?”

“Nothing, it is probably nothing.”

“You can tell me.” Peter tried.

“No, it´s nothing.”

They finished their beers and walked back to their hotel. It was already past ten and Peter put on some local sports channel. He muted the sound so Neal could sleep. It didn´t take Neal long to drift off, he could hear the deep breathing a faint snore so Peter knew Neal was sleeping. He opened his laptop and entered some passwords and entered his daily report to his office. When he was ready, he closed his laptop. Sometimes it was a bit overwhelming to have high functions in two alphabet agencies. Luckily Diana could be trusted to take most of Peter´s work at the FBI. She knew about his cover within the FBI, but that didn´t mean he could slack on the work. He really did realize a high closure rate together with Neal. It was a testimony on how good Neal really was.

His attention was drawn to Neal when he heard a whimper from the bed next to his. He studied Neal and could see he was dreaming, well, he probably was experiencing a nightmare by the looks of it. He got up and shook Neal.

Neal suddenly opened his eyes and looked up at Peter.

“What´s wrong?” Neal asked.

“You were having a nightmare.”

“OK…” Neal said hesitantly.

“Go back to sleep, sorry for waking you.”

Peter got back into his own bed and could hear Neal almost immediately falling asleep again. The nightmares were to be expected. They had pushed Neal´s mental capabilities at the center today. The programming in this phase of level 3 was harsh. He could expect Neal to be fatigued and worn, he was told to keep a good look out as it was possible that it would become too much.

There wasn´t much Peter could do tomorrow. The painting would be recovered by Neal at the end of their stay here in Dallas, so it was not that Peter needed to study the case. The agency had stolen the painting and it would be returned when they were ready with Neal, another victory for team Burk/Caffery. He had told the FBI case agent that they were following leads, so the day after tomorrow they would go into the FBI offices to keep up appearances.

Peter made up his mind; tomorrow he would stay with Neal and see how the programming went. With the decision taken, he let himself fall asleep.

 

* * *

 

They had breakfast in the hotel and during breakfast Peter had formulated the trigger, Neal was now in agent mode. He would just obey Peter as his handler.

They had a pleasant breakfast and then Peter said they would drive up to the hospital once again. Neal didn´t question the suggestion.

Once they arrived at the sleep center, Doctor Green met them. Peter told him he would stay with Neal, the doctor didn´t see any problems as long as Peter didn´t interfere with the programmers.

“Neal, please sit down in the chair.”

Neal took place in a chair that looked like a dentist chair in an upright position.

“845alpha6455sigma053 _”_

Peter could see Neal relax and close his eyes.

“Very good Neal, you know the drill, listen to my voice only and relax. Feel your body relax completely. All the weight is gone, you feel completely free, floating…”

Peter always found it strange that it only worked on the subject and not on the people around him. But of course that is why not everybody was affected by the hypnosis. He could hear the programmer give instructions to Neal. He was overwriting Neal´s personality even more, the programmed Neal was being thought all sorts of things, until now, it had been theoretical stuff mostly, but the programming was intensified and they would soon start with martial arts. Neal was already a very gifted marks man.

“Trigger 5 is 784theta3285chi784. Repeat it please, Neal.”

“Trigger 5 will be 784theta3285chi784.” Neal´s voice sounded disembodied.

“Trigger 5 will allow you to use deadly force. You will be handed a weapon on receiving this trigger. If no weapon is provided, you will acquire one yourself.”

Neal nodded.

“Trigger 6 is 198nu7854omicron664”

…

 

“Trigger10 is 726alpha8657omega666, on hearing this trigger you will self destruct. Neal, repeat trigger 10 to me.”

“Trigger 10 will be 726alpha8657omega666.”

“Please explain your mission on hearing this trigger.”

“When trigger 10 is given, I will self destruct.” Neal said emotionless.

“OK Neal, we are ready here, I will count back from 10, on 0 you will wake up. 10…9…”

Neal blinked in confusion when he noticed he was lying on what looked like a bed.

“Hi Neal, you felt a bit faint, so you were brought into the first aid, please relax, now that you are awake, I will get Peter.”

Neal looked around a bit dazed and perplexed.

The programmer walked out of the room and left Neal alone, closing the door behind him.

“He has reached the end of level 3. Agent Burke, will you please do the honors?” The programmer handed Peter a gun.

Peter checked if the gun wasn´t loaded and placed it in his pocket. He then walked into the room where Neal was sitting in the chair.

“Hi Neal, how are you feeling? The medic told me you were cleared to go.” Neal looked up at him and smiled. He got up from the chair.

“784theta3285chi784”

Peter could see, Neal´s relax demeanor changed and he was more alert, ready for action.

“I have something for you.” Peter handed him the gun and Neal took it from him and placed it in his pocket.

“726alpha8657omega666” Peter repeated the trigger.

Neal took the gun out of his pocket and checked it.

“There are no bullets in it, Peter. I can´t shoot myself with it.” Neal surged towards Peter and before the agent could react he took Peter´s gun from his holster, placed it against his temple and pulled the trigger.

 


	3. Chapter 3

“Stand down Neal. 666alpha8657omega726 ” Peter commanded.

He took his gun back from Neal. It hadn´t been loaded, but Neal had passed the test for level 3. He took the bullets out of his pant pocket and reloaded his gun, placing it back in his holster.

Neal didn´t show any emotions on his face. He was just waiting for instructions from his handler.

“OK Neal, you passed your test, you are ready for level 4 training, are you up to it?”

Neal nodded, the tension was still there. Neal as an operative was so different than Neal Caffrey, CI. He was coiled, ready for action, focused. He was magnificent. He was the best sleeper agent Peter had handled so far.

“We are ready here, tomorrow your training continues, after we have visited the FBI offices. You will make a vital discovery in the case. The entry into the museum was flawless and there is only one person you know who could pull this off, except for yourself and that is Gregory Martin.”

Neal was listening and nodded again. Peter talked to Neal as an agent for some time, before he called it a day.

“OK, let´s go.”

They left the hospital and drove off. Peter triggered Neal again and Neal studied the car for a moment.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean, what happened?”

Neal had a contemplative look on his face. He knew he was missing something. It was on the edge of his memory, but he couldn´t retrieve it. It had happened a couple of times already, he must be tired, because he seemed to zone out sometimes. It was a strange sensation. And the headaches were relentless. Every time he thought they were gone, they came back.

“Care to tell me what you are thinking?”

“Not really, no.” Neal started rubbing the place where he had placed the muzzle of the gun against his temple.

“It´s OK, Neal, we can´t always make progress in a case, sometimes we need a lucky break. Tomorrow is another day. I just want to go back to the hotel, call El and have something to eat.”

“Of course, me too, I´m tired.”

“It has been one hell of a day.” Peter agreed, if only Neal would remember what sort of day.

When they arrived at the hotel, Peter pulled out his laptop and started Skype to talk to El.

“Hey Hon.”

“How as your day?” Peter asked.

“Interesting to say the least.”

“Oh wait, Neal wants to say hello.” Peter leaned back and Neal gave El one of his biggest smiles.

“Hi Elizabeth, did Mozzie come over?”

“Yes, he did, he left about an hour ago, when I didn´t want to watch the Moon Landing with him.” She grinned.

“That sounds like Mozzie, alright. Bye, Elizabeth, I´m going to take a shower and let you talk to your husband again.” Neal gave a wave and was off to the bathroom. Peter could hear the faucet being opened and someone getting into the bathtub.

“How did he do?”

“Very well, he passed level 3, so tomorrow we will start with level 4.”

“OK, good luck, Peter.”

“Thanks, you too.”

Peter closed the program and walked over to the TV and turned it on to one of the sports channels. He couldn´t let his cover of Peter Burke, FBI agent, slip. So he ordered pizza and beers, although he was dying for some healthy food.

 

* * *

 

The next morning they drove to the FBI headquarters in Dallas. When they arrived, they studied the case file. Neal started scanned the pictures taken at the crime scene but he said he needed to see the entrances of the museum for himself, so they drove with the case agent to the DMA. It didn´t take Neal long to come to the conclusion that only one thief could have done this job, Gregory Martin. He may allegedly have met the man before. With this new lead, the case agent went back to the office. Peter promised they would call in later that day; they were going to follow some leads in other cases now that they were here.

Peter drove towards the FBI building before trigging Neal and turning into TX-12, a direct road between the FBI building and Doctors Hospital.

Once at the facility, Neal was put into level 4 hypnosis. In this level, Neal would no longer be able to differentiate between right and wrong. Peter knew they were now entering levels of training other candidates rarely reached. This would strain Neal´s mental abilities to the max.

When Neal would finish this last stage of programming, he would be a ´clear eyes´, a fully programmed ´sleeper´ assassin. He would be dangerous.

Oh, the Neal Caffrey they had created in the level 3 was dangerous, but he was still a non-violent operative. He was a menace to law enforcement agents, but not a threat to anybody. That would change after this last part of the programming.

Neal had basic training and it turned out that Neal had been a natural in weapons training. Maybe, it was something he had a natural gift for; his former life was classified, even for a high ranked agent as Peter.

Peter worked on some cases for the bureau while he was waiting. He checked in on Neal and the team every now and then to see what progress they were making. This stage would take some time. If Neal had natural defenses against killing, this would be the time to clear those. Not that it really mattered, because the programmers would have no problem overwriting those defenses, but still. It would make things more complicated.

When Peter stepped in after lunch break, he could hear Neal being told by the programmers that he was super human. Laws did not apply to him; they were for common people, not for him.

Normally in this phase of the programming, they would replace the person´s moral code, respect for the law and fear of dying with the super human feelings, but the Neal Caffrey, the programmers had written into his personality was already a criminal and dare devil, they didn´t have to change that much in this phase.

“Neal, the US government believes you are above all human laws, that is why they chose you for these assignments.” He heard one of the programmers say.

Normally in this phase of the programming, Neal would get a new identity, but Neal had been unique and they had pushed the programming already in level 2. Giving Neal a history as a master criminal made it easier on the life that needed to be created. As he had no contact with his family, no family needed to be constructed. There were souvenirs from trips Neal had never taken, Venice, Paris, London, Istanbul, even as far as Miramar.

The day went by uneventful, as the programmers worked with Neal, there would be no hands training or programming today.

Neal´s cover was complete and went deep. If ever Neal´s mission would go ´sour´, El, June and himself would produce a news conference or an interview with the press. They would let the public know that their ´Clear eyes´ had a deep troubled life and violent past of child abuse and a history of abuse in prison. Who wouldn´t believe a respected senior FBI-agent, his wife and a landlady, who was a respected widow in New York´s society. They had given Neal chances to a better life, but it hadn´t worked in the end. The media would present Neal Caffrey as a violent criminal who went on a tragic and senseless rampage. With a couple of days, max a month, the public would have forgotten the incident. That is the way the bureau always handled rogue agents, it had worked before and it would work again if the time came.

There was only one possible problem, that short friend of Neal. He was paranoid beyond believe, which was only in their favor, nobody would ever believe him.


	4. Back home

After Neal had successfully aided the Dallas Team to an arrest, Peter and Neal left. Neal´s programming had been finished and the technical training was left to the New York team. Neal had been complaining about headaches and Peter had suggested taking the weekend off. When they arrived back in New York, Peter dropped Neal of at June´s. Not wanting to tip of Neal, he just gave June a nod.  
When he came home, El was not home, there was a note that she was at an event in DC and would be back on Sunday. Of course she was not at an event, but rather on assignment or maybe a weekend away to her family. Peter had to admit they had given El a good undercover story. The event business was always a great excuse if she was home late or a weekend away.  
Oh well, he would have the house to himself for the weekend, he always enjoyed his weekend off, alone at the house. He checked the fridge but there was nothing there, he hadn´t expected it anyway, it was not as if El could really cook. They had some chefs on retainer to provide food if necessary. He opened one of the kitchen drawers and rummaged through the take out menus. Thai looked good, so he ordered some dishes and opened up a beer. He had deserved it.  
Maybe he needed to call Neal, check how he was doing. They had put him through the wringer this time and he felt sort of bad for him. He thought about it and then picked up his phone.

  
“Neal.”

“It’s Peter, how are you feeling?”

“I´m fine, don´t tell me there is a case we need to work on this weekend.”

 “No nothing like that. But you mentioned you had a headache and I just wanted to check up on you.”

 “Well, I´m fine, nothing some Tylenol won´t fix.”

 “…”

 “Is there anything else you needed?”

 “No, … yes, look, El is at an event, I was wondering if you wanted to join me for dinner? I ordered Thai, but way too much for myself, so…”

 “I could eat something. OK, I´ll grab a cab, see you in a bit.”

 “OK, see you.”

Peter put the phone down. Why did he get so attached to Neal? He had never had that problem before. He had to be careful not to get too attached, it would only complicate things when Neal would get his assignment.  
Maybe it was his age. When he was younger, he could detach himself more for the work. Now that he was at the end of his forties, it was getting harder, maybe he was getting to old to be in the field. He should consider the team leader position they were offering him.  
Satchmo´s ears perked up and Peter knew Neal was approaching. Satchmo got up and started whining at the door.  
A moment later, Neal walked in. Peter smiled, who needed keys if you were trained as a thief?  
 

“Hi Neal, food hasn´t arrived yet, I guess we´re not the only ones ordering in on a Friday night.” Peter got up and walked towards the kitchen.

“El left a bottle of red? Want a glass?”

 “Sure, thanks.”

 Neal sat down on the couch and picked up the remote and changed the channel to some news channel.

“Headache better?”

 “The Tylenol helped, so it´s fine. El his hosting an event?”

 “Yeah, she left a note; I guess she also mentioned it this week, but I forgot. So it is just us men.”

 Neal rubbed Satchmo behind the ears. He looked pensive, lost in thought.

 “Is everything OK? You seem pre-occupied.” Peter tried.

 “Yeah, lot on my mind. I´m fine. Are you watching anything in particular? I wanted to watch The Stonehurst Asylum.”

 “Yeah, fine by me. Oh, that will be the food.” He said when the door bell rang.

  
Peter walked up to the front door taking his wallet of his pocket while opening the door. “Neal, can you take some spoons and…”

Peter stopped talking mid sentence. Neal had already gotten up, walking towards the kitchen to get the spoons, when he glanced over to Peter who was standing in the open front door. He stood stiff and slowly raised his hands. Neal could see a man standing in front of Peter, but Peter stood in the direct line of vision of the man, so he still could get away.

“Agent Burke, you´re coming with us.”

“If you want money, I can …”

 “Shut up” A voice called out.

Neal peeked his ears, was that Mozzie?

“Mozzie?”

 Peter must also have recognized the voice.

 “Grab him.” Another voice commanded and Neal could see a black hood was pulled over Peter´s head and he was dragged forward and down the stairs into a waiting van.

 One of the men entered the house, clearly in search of Neal. Neal had pressed himself behind the divider that separated the kitchen from the stairs.

 “Neal?”

 “Mozzie?”

 Neal tentatively came out of his hiding space.

 “Let´s go Neal.”

 “What are you doing? Why are you kidnapping Peter?”

 “Come with me, and I will explain.”

 

* * *

 

Peter was royally pissed off. He always had known Neal´s little friend was a pain in the ass, but that he would have the audacity to kidnap Peter, well kidnap, if Peter would have wanted to escape, it would have been a piece of cake. But he decided to wait and see what the little guy wanted of him. Probably just send a message. Well, he could handle that.  
Here he was, sitting in a metal chair that was bolted to the ground. His hands were handcuffed behind his back and linked to the chair. His ankles were tied to the chair legs with zip ties. The black hood was still over his head. It was stifling and hot, but also a good sign, his kidnappers didn´t want him dead, well not immediately. But the way he was restrained, he wasn´t going anywhere soon.  
The strange thing was that the room he was being kept in, smelled of food. Maybe they had locked him up in a storage room or something, because he was sure he smelled sweets but also savory aromas. He also had a distinct feeling that he was not alone in the room.

A door opened and Peter listened. Two persons, probably male had entered the room he was being held in and wait… there was a woman entering as well, he could hear her heels click on the concrete floor. Nobody said anything, so Peter waited. It was not like he could take any initiative here.  
He could feel someone walking up to him and stopping behind him.

It was Neal! He could smell the distinct smell of his cologne. But before he could say anything, a hand grabbed the hood and pulled it off.

“SURPRISE!!!” a bunch of people shouted

Blinking against the light, Peter started laughing.

 “Thanks Hon, I guess this was your idea?”

 “Yes it was. But I got help from Mozzie and June.” Elizabeth gave him a big smile and kiss on his forehead. “How did you guess?”

 “I recognized Mozzie´s voice, smelled Neal´s cologne and heard high heels…”

Peter glanced around the room and saw his FBI team and even some CIA colleagues, pretending to be family and friends. El had gone through a lot of trouble to organize this. He made a mental note to himself to thank her later. She really was a good friend. His birthday was still twelve days away, but it was a nice surprise. He would never have guessed when the hood was pulled over his head.  
Jones released Peter from the chair and he stretched before starting to shake hands with his guests. There were gifts and cakes. And Neal could see that Peter had the time of his life.  
When Peter had been ´kidnapped´, Neal´s heart had almost stopped, until he had heard Mozzie´s voice. While Peter was dragged in the van, Neal was pulled aside by Mozzie and briefed what was going on. He had thought it was strange, until he got in the car, where June and El were waiting for him. When he had asked El, if Peter wouldn´t be scared, she only laughed and had explained that Peter wouldn´t mind. It had been a prank she had wanted to perform for years, so now she got her wish. When she had asked Mozzie if he would want to participate, he had grabbed the opportunity with both hands. El was all excited, so Neal let himself be pulled in by the excitement. He had asked her if he could be the one to pull of Peter´s hood, so El had only smiled at him.

 “Of course you can, sweetie.”

  
When they arrived in the warehouse where the party was hosted, a gorgeous location. Neal had to admit, El had outdone herself. All the guests were waiting and two guests had tied Peter to the chair in the middle of the room. When Neal and Mozzie had entered with El, Neal had walked up to Peter and he was surprised to see how calm Peter was. But he didn´t want to scare Peter so the minute he stood behind Peter, he had pulled the hood off.

Peter had smiled. He had smiled! Cool as a cucumber. Peter was more a professional than he had thought. He grabbed a glace of Champagne and started talking to a woman who introduced herself as a cousin of Peter.

  
Neal didn´t see El, June and Peter talking to each other. Unfortunately for them, Mozzie had.


	5. More training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not updating sooner, so I am giving you two short chapters in one go and promise to finish the story quickly.

Peter walked into the office in a very good mood. His surprise party had turned out to be a great success. He had enjoyed himself and by the look of things, so did his guests. He jogged up to his office and started his computer while getting himself a cup of coffee.

Neal was already working, by the looks of things; he was studying some cold case. He would need to take Neal to get some more weapons training, maybe this weekend, hmm, that was maybe an option.

He walked downstairs into the bull pen and stopped in front of Neal´s desk.

“Neal, want to come over later for dinner? El has some wedding to attend.”

“Wow, she is keeping busy, isn´t she? Sure.”

When they arrived at home, Peter told Neal to order some take out while he changed into something more comfortable. If he was going to take Neal into a training session, he would need it. June had already brought some gear for Neal.

When he came back down, Neal was sitting on the couch, playing with Satchmo.

“What did you order?”

“Oh, some Thai. And yes, I order some Chang beer to go with it.” Neal smiled.

Peter plunked down on the couch as well and took the remote. He started surfing until he found a game he hadn´t seen before.

“Really, do we need to watch this?”

“Yes, we do, at least until after dinner.”

When the doorbell chimed, Neal jumped up and hurried to the door. He came back with the bags of take out.

“Did you pay? Wait, here I´ll get my…”

Neal held out Peter´s wallet, who grabbed it with a tired smile.

“Let´s eat.”

They enjoyed their meal and after Neal cleaned away the trash, he sat down next to Peter.

“845alpha6455sigma053”

Neal relaxed visibly.

“Neal, we are going to the shooting range to get some weapon practice. Go change into something more comfortable.”

Neal got up and walked up to the guestroom. Peter in the mean time opened his laptop and opened the program to track Neal´s anklet. After some passwords he entered the program where he could manipulate the tracking data. The program would show Neal at home all evening.

Neal came down with a pained expression.

“What is wrong?”

“Nothing, just a slight headache.”

“OK, let´s go, I don´t want to waste time.”

 

* *  *

 

When Neal placed the gun back down, Peter whistled impressed. The whole round had gone in the bull’s eye. Peter himself was a good marksman, but Neal was something else. He was a natural. Peter was always impressed what Neal could do if he wanted to. Well, of course, this was not what he had wanted, but still.

Neal was a remarkable agent. They would participate in field training. The higher ups had decided that Neal needed night training and they wanted to see how he would perform under duress.

When they were ready, they left the driving range. During the ride home Peter had said the de-activation code. While on their way, Peter got a call that they were needed at an operation Jones and Diana were working. Peter drove to the address he was given and the left the car. They entered the abandoned warehouse when out of nowhere a shooter appeared.

“Get down.” Peter shouted.

Neal ducted and Peter returned fire. Neal ran up the stairs towards the shooter and Peter cursed. He wasn´t sure what Neal was planning and he had no intention of Neal getting hurt, so he quickly followed him and when he was close enough he said to Neal: “784theta3285chi784”

The change in Neal was remarkable. His whole body tensed up ready for action. Peter distracted the shooter and without any communication between them, Neal disarmed the man with a couple of well placed kicks.

Peter could hear his fellow agents closing in, so he said the deactivation code before anyone would notice anything. Neal immediately relaxed.

“What happened?”

“You did good, kid. You distracted the shooter so we were able to disarm him.” Peter gave him a proud smile and Neal just nodded.”

While Diana and Jones took the shooter in for questioning, Peter took Neal to a local coffee shop.

“You´re alright?”

“Yeah, I guess. I´m a bit stressed lately.”

“Well, this was a stressful situation, but you did good, we got the guy and saved innocent lives, so yeah for team Burke-Caffrey.”

“Burke-Caffrey, yeah… you really are going there?”

“In alphabetical order…”

“Sure.”


	6. Shanghaied

In hindsight, Peter could have told that their current assignment was meant to end disastrous, but hindsight is always 20/20.

While performing an undercover assignment for the FBI, it wasn´t even a real undercover assignment, Peter would have laughed at the simplicity of the operation, both Neal and he were kidnapped.

Somebody must have leaked the info that they were undercover, because while Peter went in as a business man looking for an opportunity and Neal as his financial advisor, they were met with a whole lot of guns.

They were quickly overpowered and restrained. When two men came towards them with syringes, Neal made a feeble attempt to break free and Peter had to watch helplessly how Neal was hit with the butt of a gun. He sank sunned to the ground without a sound.

“Neal!”

The moment he moved in to get to Neal, he felt a sting in his arm and he could feel himself collapsing to the ground, not really unconscious, but not able to respond to anything.

The last thing he saw was the men carrying Neal away.

 

* *  *

 

When Peter woke up, he was disoriented. His head was spinning and he felt nauseous. He couldn´t contain the groan that escaped his mouth when he looked around. Finally his eyes looked on Neal´s figure. He was hanging from his wrists from what looked like a meat hook or something. His head was slumped on his chest and blood had dripped down his face.

When he took stock of himself, he realized, he was hanging from his wrists as well. They needed to get out of this situation, this was never good. He was trying to see how his hands were restrained, when the door opened.

“I see you are awake, agent Burke.”

“What do you want? You know I am a federal agent, right?”

“Yes, we do. And we want to send a clear message to everyone who thinks they can mess in with our business.”

“All I can say is that you will experience the wrath of the FBI if you hurt one of us. If you kill us, another agent will be assigned to the case.”

“That maybe so, agent Burke, but Neal here is not an FBI agent, and I am quite sure that the FBI´s loyalty doesn´t involve convicted criminals.”

The man stroked Neal´s face. Neal didn´t move a muscle, he just hung limp in his restraints. Peter studied Neal to see whether or not he was conscious, but soon he realized Neal was still out.

“Gunter, can you please come in?”

Peter craned his neck to see who was entering and his stomach dropped when he saw what was on the table Gunter was pushing in front of him.

Neal was still blissfully unaware, but Peter started struggling, he couldn´t help it.

“Good to see.” The man only said.

“Gunter, please prepare agent Burke. He is in for the long haul.”

Gunter walked up to him and Peter started struggling in earnest now, which only resulted in blow to the kidneys, that made Peter black out for a moment. Gunter used the moment to gag Peter with a rag and some tape. Peter tried to get enough air through his nose to ride out the pain.

“Neal, wake up, come on boy.” The still unidentified man said. He smacked Neal on the cheeks and eventually Gunter walked up to Neal with a capsule, he broke it in front of Neal´s face. First nothing happened, but then Neal scrunched up his face and suddenly pulled back from the smell.

“Ah, good to see you are awake, mister Caffrey.”

Neal scanned the room with a dazed gaze.

“Peter.” He croaked.

Peter shook his head.

“What do you want from us?”

“Nothing mister Caffrey, don´t break you pretty little head about that. But I bet that you suffer nicely.”

Neal´s brain wasn´t working on full capacity, but he realized that they were in deep trouble.


	7. Endurance

Peter was at the end of his endurance. Physical pain was not a problem, he had been trained hard enough and his tolerance to pain was quite high. But they almost didn´t touch him, which couldn´t be said for Neal.

Neal couldn´t keep his mouth shut and had received a couple of nasty blows, but nothing that would cause permanent damage. The plan was more devious, the two men didn´t want their victim to pass out, so they kept the level of pain high enough to be excruciating and low enough so Neal wouldn´t lose consciousness. Eventually Neal´s body gave out and he was hanging limp from his restraints. Peter was sure that he had no voice left after shouting for them to stop, behind his gag.

Neal as a civilian was tough but not trained. And it pulled on Peter´s heart to not be able to get Neal to switch over to his agent mode.

Peter had also lost track of time, but it must have be nearing the end of the day as his stomach growled. Suddenly Gunter stood next to him and cut the cord that held his arms up. The moment his arms fell down, he had no feeling in them and couldn´t hold them up, the blood rushing back into his arms made his vision grey out for a moment. When he came to again, he was being carried to a cell and thrown down on the floor unceremoniously. He let out a groan when he hit the concrete floor. Gunter left him, presumably to get Neal. They had used his unconsciousness to tie his hands behind his back. But they not only tied his wrists together, but also his elbows. And if that wasn´t enough, they looped a chain through his arms and attached it to a bolt in the wall. He wasn´t going anywhere.

 

* *  *

 

Neal roused when they cut down Peter and carried him out. Neal wanted to sigh in relief; they were probably done for the night. He waited to be cut down as well, but It didn´t happen. What did happen was that Gunter picked up a syringe. Neal´s eyes widened. He tried to back away from Gunter, but he didn´t have that much slack. The man behind him grabbed is hair and pulled his head back, making it difficult to breathe, so Neal stilled. The needle was pushed in his skin and he could feel the drugs entering his system as a cold feeling spread though his veins. Suddenly his hair was released and he too was cut down. Just like Peter, when his arms fell down, the rush of blood back into his limbs made him black out.

Gunter cut his restraints and refastened them behind his back in the same fashion as Peter and he too was dropped in the cell together with Peter. Neal´s eyes were open, but he still wasn´t completely with them, Peter could see it in Neal´s eyes, and what worried him more, he could see Neal´s pupils contracting, it was disconcerting to watch the blue becoming more pronounced. It was sort of eerie. They must have drugged Neal with something.

When the door closed, leaving the two men alone, Peter tried to get Neal’s attention.

“Mmmmm.”

Slowly lifted his head. Peter could see that he was heavily drugged in the sluggish reaction Neal was showing. He wasn´t really reacting to Peter, who wanted to try to get Neal to pull the tape off his mouth. But that wasn´t going to happen by the looks of it.

Neal started moaning and writhing. Something was wrong with Neal. Peter inched closer to Neal but he couldn´t reach him, the chain pulling taut. Peter felt helpless and frustrated.

“Nmml.” Peter tried again behind his gag.

Neal seemed lost in whatever drugs induced nightmare he was experiencing. He kept very still but Peter could hear a constant stream of pants, keens and moans.

Eventually he must have fallen asleep because Peter started awake when the door opened. The man entered and studied Neal.

“I see our boy is suffering nicely. How are you holding up, Peter?”

Peter didn´t give him the satisfaction of responding.

The man took something out of his pocket which looked like a paintbrush. He slowly dragged it over Neal´s neck and the reaction was not what Peter had expected. Neal cried out. Neal stared at the man with his spooky eyes and started begging to stop.

“You see, agent Burke, your boy is tough, tougher than I thought, so I had to think of something else. You see, Peter, you don´t mind if I call you Peter, do you? Neal here has gotten sometime that makes him hyper sensitive to pain. So even lying on the floor causes him excruciating pain, but I must admit, he is holding up well, let´s change that. He started groping Neal who tried to get away from him, but lacked the strength and coordination. Not being able to get away from the hands, Neal started sobbing. The sound pierced through Peter´s heart. And he was unable to do anything about it. He needed to stay calm and not let this guy get under his skin. He needed to think.

But it was hard to concentrate while someone was torturing his partner just to taunt him. Neal sobbing had died down and Peter peered back at Neal.

“Too bad, Peter, our boy passed out. Oh well, maybe for the best. This will give you both a break. I will be back.”

 

* *  *

 

They didn´t get much of a break, because the two men entered the cell not so much later. They probably had something to eat, because Peter´s stomach growled.

“Hungry, agent Burke?”

Peter didn´t react to the taunting and kept his eyes closed.

However, he didn´t know how fast to open them when he heard Neal gasp in pain. Before him, Gunter stood on Neal´s bound hands. Neal was now gritting his teeth, which earned him a kick in the ribs. Neal didn´t even cry out, but just chocked trying to breathe with probably cracked or even broken ribs. Peter started shouting to stop with the gag was just too effective.

“He is suffering, Peter. Look at him.”

Tears started to leak from Peter´s eyes and he stubbornly kept looking at the man and not to Neal, while they kept hitting and kicking Neal.

After what seemed like forever, Neal lost consciousness, he looked pale and his breathing was irregular and shallow.

Gunter walked towards him and pulled the tape off, but Peter was too exhausted from shouting to spit out the rag. Gunter removed it and fed him some sips from a water bottle.

“What do you want?” Peter croaked.

“Nothing agent Burke, I told you before, I just want to give your colleagues a clear message and I guess there won´t be a better one than this one.”

“Let Neal alone, he has nothing to do with this, he is not even an agent.”

“No, poor boy really doesn´t have anything to do with this, but unfortunately, he does mean something to you personally.”

“No he doesn´t.”

“Nice try agent Burke, but I can see the murderous glint in your eyes when I do this.” He started stroking along Neal´s jaw line trailing downwards. Neal started moaning but didn´t react in any other way. But Neal moaned, which meant he had to be aware on some level. Peter was just about to say the activation phrase when Gunter placed a new gag in Peter´s mouth. He started struggling as his life depended on it, but that just earned him a fist in the face, stunning him.

 

* *  *

 

Neal could hear people talk around him. There was a hand on his face, caressing it. The gesture was predatory and not comforting, he wanted to shake the hand of, but he didn´t seem to be able to be able to muster enough energy. He heard a moaning sound and after some time he realized he was making the sound. He heard scuffling and someone who tried to say something but his words were muffled. Neal tried to make sense of the mumbling, but he lost his fight with consciousness.


	8. Working together

Peter watched Neal lying limply on the floor. The men had left them alone, so Peter tried to get closer to Neal, but as he was still fastened to the wall, he didn´t get far. He reached with his foot and managed to nudge Neal. Neal groaned when he finally was aware enough that someone wanted his attention. He did his best to turn so he was facing Peter. The small movement must have been excruciating, because Peter could see Neal starting to lose consciousness again, as his eyes started to roll again. He could only hope Neal was able to pull himself together.

Peter thought of something, he started tapping the iron ring in the wall behind him.

-. . .- .-.. ( _Neal_ )

Peter could see that Neal realized he was hearing Morse code and that he did his best to pay attention.

-.. --- / -. --- - / -- --- ...- . ( _Do not move_ )

Neal nodded and Peter sighed in relief behind his gag. He had found a way to communicate with Neal.

\--... ---.. ....- - .... . - .- ...-- ..--- ---.. ..... -.-. .... .. --... ---.. ....- ( _784theta3285chi784_ )

Peter could see the look in Neal´s eyes change. So it also worked in Morse. Peter wasn´t sure if it would work, but apparently it did. If Peter would have to describe it he would say Neal´s eyes hardened. In the mean time Neal tried to get rid of his restraints, probably digging in his last reserves to overcome the drugs.

\- .-- --- / -- . -. --..-- / .- .-. -- . -.. ( _Two men armed_ )

“Give me a second to get out of these restraints.” Neal panted. It must cost him a lot of energy to push through the pain and exhaustion. But Peter knew he would be able to, he had pushed Neal to his limits so many times during training. A couple of minutes later, Neal had gotten rid of the riot cuffs. He grunted when he got up and quickly limped his way over to Peter. He pulled the tape of Peter´s mouth and was just about to untie him, when footsteps approached. He did his best to untie Peter, but realized he wouldn´t manage, so he quickly hid behind the door.

The moment Gunter came through the door; Neal grabbed him and took him in a chokehold. It didn´t take long before Gunter lost consciousness. Neal let him drop to the floor and quickly checked out the hallway, but apparently Gunter had been alone, because he came back into the room and untied Peter.

“Let´s get out of here.” Neal whispered.

Peter could see Neal was in full operative mode and nodded to lead the way. Neal checked the hallway again and slowly walked out, he listened a moment and then started leading Peter into the corridor. The building where they were being held was more complex than Peter had expected and they had to back track a couple of times.

Suddenly Neal stiffened and Peter stood still. Footsteps were approaching and Peter could see Neal getting ready to attack. But suddenly the steps stopped and both men held their breath. The person didn´t come any closer. Neal readied himself to pounce if the person would, but it didn´t happen, so Neal slowly and carefully looked around the corner. It must have been clear because Neal took a step around the corner.

So the gunshot came as a complete surprise and Neal went down. Peter could see the red seeping through Neal´s shirt. Neal was unconscious, so he needed to think. He checked out his surroundings and searched for a weapon. There was a fire extinguisher, Peter checked the type and it was carbon dioxide, good, that would get the other guy.

Peter waited for the other man to appear from around the corner. Peter held his breath and it was clear the other man was cautious, but eventually Peter could hear footsteps creeping closer. He readied himself and forced himself to concentrate on the steps. Suddenly they were in front of him and Peter squeezed the handle and stepped forward, pointing the extinguisher away from him. The other man was distracted and before Peter could act, the man was down.

Peter let go of the handle and looked in surprise at Neal who was swaying on his feet. In his hands he held a chair which he dropped slowly. He looked deadly pale and there was an alarmingly amount of blood on the floor.

“Neal?”

Peter quickly moved forward when Neal eyes started rolling. He was just in time to grab Neal´s waist, when he went completely limp. Peter guided Neal slowly to the ground and felt for a pulse. It was there, slow and irregular, but it was there. It was obvious that he needed medical attention.

Peter scrambled towards the other unconscious man and checked his pockets for a phone. He let out a breath of relief when he found one. He quickly dialed the number and waited, still checking Neal´s pulse.

_“How did you get this number, suit?”_

“Mozzie, Neal needs you. Do you have a doctor that doesn´t ask any question?”

“ _And what if I hypothetically did?”_

“We need transport and we need it quickly, I don´t know how long Neal can hold on. He is injured badly, GSW to the abdomen”

“ _Give me the address, suit_.”

It was only then that Peter realized that he didn´t know where they were being kept.

“I… I have to…” Peter pulled a blank, never in his years as a professional had he been so useless. What was wrong with him?

“ _I am already looking for you, just stay put and I will be there as soon as possible_.”

Peter kept the connection open and pulled off his shirt, balled it up and pushed down on Neal´s wound. It evoked a cry and Neal´s eyes hot open. They were filled with pain and begging Peter to make it stop.

“Neal, you need to be strong, OK? Mozzie is coming to pick you up and he will make sure you will be alright.”

Peter shook him a little and Neal slowly reopened his eyes.

“Wht?” He mumbled.

“Shh, you´re OK, Neal. Keep still, help is on its way. You need to stay awake.”

“You need…”

“I need what?”

“Make sure…”

“I can´t leave you alone.”

“Yes, you must…” Neal started to fade again.

Peter realized Neal was right. He needed to make sure that the men were secured and couldn´t ambush them. Reluctantly, he let go of Neal and got up. He put Neal´s hand on the balled up shirt and told Neal to keep pressure on the wound. Neal would probably not be able to, but he had to try.

Peter made his way over to the man close to them, he was still out. He then walked in the direction the man had come from, and as expected, there was a room where the men stayed. He found more riot cuffs, so he quickly walked back and restrained the man on wrists and ankles. He then made his way back to Gunter. Neal must have gotten him good, because he was still out. He was breathing and he had a strong pulse, so he would be OK. Peter restrained him as well and then ran back to Neal.

By the time he got back to Neal, Neal had an alarmingly pale complexion and Peter heart clenched. He feared the worst, and when he knelt next to Neal and Neal took a shuddering breath, he sighed in relief.

Neal had saved him, twice. Neal was just an asset and still he owed his life to this man. The bleeding had slowed down, but hadn´t stopped completely, so Peter put more pressure on the wound again. Neal cried out when the pressure on his abdomen increase. Unfocused eyes checked Peter over.

“P’tr?”

“Yes Neal, I´m here. I…”

“ _Peter, we are in front of the building, we will be there in a minute_.” Mozzie´s voice came through Peter´s phone that was still lying next to Neal and Peter had forgotten about. He noticed that Mozzie had called him by his name. He must be stressed as well.

“Mozzie, hurry up.”

Within minutes, Peter could here footsteps and he started calling out. He noticed that the footsteps came closer quickly.

“Suit, how is he?”

“Still holding on. He was shot by a rather large caliber gun.” Peter studied the man who knelt next to Neal and placed an oxygen mask over his face. This guy seemed to be equipped professionally and Mozzie had a gurney and everything with them what an EMT would have.

“Doc here is a very good doctor, he will take care of Neal. But tell me Peter, why didn´t you take him to hospital?”

“I can´t explain Mozzie, but you need to take him with you and leave the country as soon as possible. Don´t let me or anybody know where you are going.”

Mozzie studied Peter´s face as if he wanted to verify Peter´s honesty.

“OK… Doc., can he be transported?”

“Give me a minute.”

The doctor started putting a pressure bandage around Neal´s abdomen and hooked up an IV, which he told Mozzie to hold.

“OK, he is as stable as I can get him for the moment in the field. Help me get him to the rig.”

They lifted Neal on the gurney and quickly transported him to the waiting van. It was an inconspicuous looking van, but when the doctor opened the door, the inside looked like an ambulance.

The gurney was pushed in and Mozzie thanked Peter for saving Neal.

“I just want to say something to him.”

“Sure, but hurry.” The doctor said.

Peter climbed into the van and sat down next to Neal´s head. He gently shook Neal until he opened his eyes. He took a deep breath and said the deactivation phrase.

“Please be save, Neal.” He added and quickly jumped from the van, closing the doors. The car jumped into action and drove away.

Peter got back inside and called his colleagues for back up.

 

 

 


	9. Retirement

Neal woke in pain. The moaning that woke him turned out to be his own. The realization was a shock. What had happened?

He wanted to open his eyes, but they seemed to be glued stuck. He tried bringing his hand to his face to check out what was going on with his eyes, but his arm felt like it weighted a ton. He must have been hurt somehow. Maybe he was in hospital, but it didn´t have the right smell and sounds. Sounds… now that he thought about it, he started to concentrate and realized he heard the sea. He heard waves crashing onto rocks. There was also a breeze coming into the room and it was warm. So if the window was open and he didn´t hear traffic, he wasn´t in New York. Why was his mind so slow in getting the picture? He tried to move, but stopped as the pain hit him full force. He must have made a sound because he heard a door open. He sort of held his breath and stayed still.

“You´re awake?”

Mozzie? Neal released the breath he was holding. Everything would be alright.

“Neal?”

Neal wanted to answer Mozzie and he opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“Neal, you are awake, wait, and let me get a washcloth”

Neal heard Mozzie leave the room and then there was the sound of water and footsteps returning. A warm moist soft washcloth was swiped over his face and it felt good. Afterwards he slowly opened his eyes and blinked against the light that was filtering through the window.

“You have us quiet a scare, Neal. Glad you decided to come back amongst the living.”

While he talked Mozzie had picked up a sippy cup, which he held in front of Neal. Neal wanted to grab it, but his hands still felt too heavy, so he gave up and just sucked on the kiddy cup.

“Wht hppnd?” he whispered.

“You were shot, the bullet entered your abdomen and you lost a lot of blood. Nothing vital was hit, Ginger was a able to stabilize you and we left as soon as you were able to travel.”

“Whr are w?”

“Neum, a small town near the adriatic sea”

“No extrdtn?”

“No, we are safe here, nobody knows where we are. You worry about getting better.”

Neal´s eyes starting to close again.

“Sleep, I´m here.”

 

* *  *

 

“OK, one more time, how did you lose Caffrey?”

Peter studied his boss. He was pissed, that much was clear.

“I didn´t lose him. I was beat up, tied to a wall, Caffrey was tortured and separated from me, but he must have managed to get away. Like I said, I was able to free myself and take down the two guys that kidnapped us. What are you implying? That I let him go?”

“Of course not Peter, you are a senior agent, but you do understand that the higher ups don´t like the fact that a valuable asset as gotten away and we do not have a clue where he is.”

“I don´t know, once they knocked me out, I was taken away and stuffed in the room where you found Gunter.”

“Caffrey was hurt, the blood that was found on the crime scene belonged among others to Neal.”

“He was tortured, so yes he was hurt.”

“But still, the amount of blood suggests that he couldn´t have made it far, he needed help, and even then...”

“Look, I know Caffery was a one in a kind, say that to the men who kidnapped us. What is going to happen to them anyway?”

“They have been taken care of. There was an accident during their transfer to prison.”

Peter got up and nodded to his boss while he left the office. He left the building and walked to the nearest coffee shop and ordered himself a big coffee and sat down on a bench. He was done, he couldn´t do this anymore. He didn´t have the energy to train yet another asset. He was getting to old for this.

He got up, threw away the empty cup and walked back to the office.

His mind was made up.

 

                                                                       *  *  *

 

Neal slowly recovered. Mozzie took good care of him and he did his best to be a good patient. The wound was healing well, and he was able to move around, even if it left him exhausted after a few steps. Neal enjoyed the nice clear salty air. Mozzie had provided a sturdy sun bed at the private beach, so Neal would be comfortable while he slept, and he slept a lot. The bed was lined with warm soft blankets and pillows and an umbrella provided shade when the sun was too bright.

Mozzie would sometimes bring the International New York Times and Neal would read every story in it. But he never read anything about Peter Burke. Mozzie had told him on different occasions to leave it and be grateful that Peter had set him free. But Neal still hadn´t figured out why Peter had let him go. There must have been something, a reason why he had called Mozzie instead of FBI backup. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He was missing something.

One day, Neal was scanning the internet, and there it was. A story covered the upcoming retirement of Peter Burke, ASAC of the New York City White Collar division.

“Mozzie!”

Mozzie came running out of the house, worry written over his face.

“What is wrong, did you hurt yourself?”

“No, sorry, I didn´t mean to scare you. I need a message delivered; can you take care of it?”

“Not the suit, Neal, leave him, forget about him, he has his live with Mrs. Suit and you get to have one of your own. If you don´t like it here, we move, maybe to Mauritius or Vietnam? I thought you would like Europe.”

“I do, it is great, I love the place, but I need this send, can you?”

Mozzie sighed.

OK, give me the message and I will take care of it.”

“Thanks Mozzie, you are a true friend.”

 

 

* *  *

 

“Well, we hate to see you leave, Peter, but under the circumstances, we completely understand and we wish you all the best in your future endeavors.”

The kidnapping case had been closed with the conclusion that Neal Caffery had died at the hands of the men that had kidnapped them. The evidence of is torture was more than obvious and the amount of blood, that matched Neal´s DNA, found on the scene let everyone believe that Neal had been killed and dumped somewhere. His body had never been recovered and there had been a small intimate memorial service.

After the kidnapping, El and Peter had split up, the house had been sold and everybody was convinced that Peter´s PTSD had caused the breakup.

Hughes clapped Peter on the back and took him in a bear hug. The team in the bull pen started applauding and Peter felt his face flush. They were good colleagues, sometimes he wondered how his life would have been if he had been an FBI-agent instead of a CIA-agent undercover. What would his life have looked liked if he would have chosen for an ordinary existence?

“Peter, before you go, know that my door is always open for you, OK?” Hughes said before letting him go to cut the cake they had bought him.

“Thanks Reese, now that El and I separated, I think I will travel, I don´t know, maybe buy a bike and see the country, something like that. Maybe I go upstate and do something with horses.”

“Well, good luck.”

With a last shake of the hand, the men separated and Peter walked the steps down into the bull pen where he shook hands and smiled, ate cake and finally he took the brown card board box and left the building.

He dumped everything in the rental car, as the Taurus was an FBI car and drove to the apartment he rented. The house on DeKalb was a CIA house and El had gotten another assignment.

When he entered the small apartment he threw the box on the table and walked up to the fridge. He took a beer and took a swig. It was only now that he noticed the envelope on the table. Curious he studied it. It didn´t look like it was something dangerous but you never knew in his line of business. He walked up to one of the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a pair of gloves before opening the envelope.

 

_Dear Peter,_

_I never had the chance to thank you for saving my life. I keep asking myself why you did it. It is still something I can´t wrap my head around. Mozzie insists that I leave it and be grateful. I am, I truly am, but it keeps nagging not knowing._

_I hope you are OK and that you didn´t have too much trouble explaining my disappearance._

_Your friend,_

_N.C._

Peter swallowed. Your friend, little did Neal know…


	10. Epilogue

As an ex-agent, it wasn´t hard for Peter to find Neal. Oh, Mozzie was good, but he wasn´t that good. Peter had waited a couple of months, had made his trip across the country and now prepared for a European trip. He landed in London and did the official site seeing, after a week, he took the Eurostar train to Brussels, saw Manneke Pis, drank some of Belgium´s famous beers and visited the war sites near the coast, to finish his trip in Bruges. A rental car took him to Amsterdam, where he enjoyed an occasional joint and in a cannabis induced haze, he rented a bike and did some site seeing, it almost cost him his life, but he enjoyed the easy going Dutch people.

Form Holland, he took a flight to Sweden, as he always had wanted to visited the country, but decided it was less to his liking as he had hoped. So another flight took him to Berlin. He visited all the cold war memorabilia. Berlin had been more trendy and hip than he had expected and he had stayed a couple of weeks, but it was time to move on Paris.

He spent some more time here, as it was the city, Neal dwelled on. He visited the famous and less famous museums and finally took the TGV to the south. By now he was pretty sure he wasn´t being followed. But he still didn´t want to lead any agencies to Neal´s hiding place, so he visited Milan, Rome, Pisa and finally ended up in Venice, where he rented a sail boat and made his way to Neum, where he knew Neal was staying. Well he had been there when Peter had left the States, but that had been months ago. But he felt lucky and even if Neal was not there, he still had a great trip.

 

* * *

 

It was the end of summer and Neal got up early, he wanted to paint, so he decided to have a quick run to the bakery and pick up some groceries before starting. He never liked having to stop for chores. Mozzie had left about a week ago on some unspecified trip and Neal hadn’t asked any questions.

He put on some sweatpants, T-shirt and running shoes and took off. He made a quick run across the beach until he came to the village and then made his way into town. He stopped at the bakery, butcher and got some tomatoes to make soup. With all the groceries he couldn´t run anymore, instead he walked back to the house enjoying the morning sun.

When he got home, the stray cat that picked their house as his new home came walking up to Neal and curled around his legs, making Neal stumble into the kitchen. He put everything away and took one of the tins with tuna for Iskander. Mozzie had laughed when he started to feed the cat and eventually naming it, but now he was part of the household.

After breakfast, Neal started painting. He was completely in the zone and didn´t notice the man walking up to the house.

“Hi Neal.”

Neal tensed up, but when he realized it was a familiar voice, he relaxed.

“Hi Peter.”

He slowly turned around to face Peter. He looked good, relaxed was a better word.

“You look good.”

“Thanks, you look a lot better than the last time I saw you. How are you doing?”

“Fine, Mozzie and the doc took real good care of me. You want something to drink?”

“You got some coffee?”

“Sure, sit down.”

Neal cleaned his brushes and walked into the kitchen where Peter sat down at one of the stools of the kitchen island.

“So you found me again, what happens now?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to make sure you were OK.”

“Well, as you can see, I am. How are things at the FBI?”

“I don´t know, I retired more than six months ago.”

Neal is not sure how to react to this news, the FBI was everything to Peter. What happened to him, retired,…

“I didn´t realize. How is Elizabeth?”

“We divorced.”

Neal cringed, he had missed a lot while in Europe.

“I´m sorry, I didn´t mean…”

“No, don’t worry, look, I…I want to apologize.”

Neal´s telephone rand and he looked up at Peter with an apologetic smile. “Mozzie.” He shrugged.

Neal walked out of the room and Peter could hear the two friends talk. It was good to hear the banter between the two. Neal finished the call and walked into the kitchen to get the coffee. Neal was still standing with his back towards Peter when he said the deactivation code. He could see a moment of tension and then it was gone.

“Why would you want to apologize?”

“For not contacting you sooner. Not taking care of you personally. Shipping you off with Mozzie.”

Neal studied Peter and then shook his head.

“You set me free Peter, I am grateful for that.”

“Don´t be. I…”

Neal studied Peter´s face more, there was something off. Neal would have thought Peter would be grief stricken by the divorce, but Peter seemed OK. Not bothered by it.

“Why did you call Mozzie, instead of back up?”

“It seemed like the right thing to do. You deserved your freedom.” Peter looked Neal straight in the eyes.

“I always wondered.”

“About what?”

“Why you called Mozzie, I was injured bad, it took Mozzie and the doc a day to stabilize me and I was considered critical for a week after that.”

Neal could see the guilt on Peter´s face.

“Why didn´t you call 911?”

“It’s complicated and I…I can´t.” Peter got up and walked towards the door.

“Peter, wait…I trust you. You don´t have to tell me. Like I said before, you saved me and set me free, I am grateful for that. If you don´t wish to talk about it, that is fine.” Neal swallowed and walked up to Peter. He placed a hand on Peter´s shoulder.

“I am happy here, I am happy with my life. Stay. Please. Give yourself a break.”

“Neal, you don´t know…”

“I don´t care, stay, take care of yourself and then we will see where this goes, but give yourself a break. Summer is coming and it is beautiful out here.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I am. You are home Peter.”

**Author's Note:**

> DMA = Dallas Museum of Art


End file.
